Korea to ‘Upgrade’ Diplomatic Activities for Nuclear Regulations

Chairman Kang Chang-sun of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will visit the IAEA…will strengthen cooperation with the U.S., the U.K. and France.

Chairman Kang Chang-sun of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will visit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during the period of its general meeting set to be held from September 17 to 21 to reinforce bilateral and multilateral cooperation with nuclear regulatory organizations of major countries, including the United States.

During his visit to the IAEA, Chairman Chang-sun Kang will have bilateral meetings with Kang heads of nuclear regulatory organizations of major countries, including Chairman Allison Macfarlane of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and discuss ways to strengthen substantial cooperation. Other guests will include the heads of ASN of France and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) of Finland, as well as the secretary general of OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), and the representative of the U.K. ONR to the IAEA.

Among them, Chairman Chang-sun Kang will sign an agreement for cooperation with the Chairman of the U.S. NRC that will serve as the foundation for cooperation for safety and regulation between the two countries.

The cooperation agreement specifies the mutual cooperation between the two organizations in nuclear safety, regulation and security areas, comprising of the exchange of manpower and joint research.

And Chairman Chang-sun Kang will participate in the discussion on safety regulations in the international community by attending the operating committee of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (JC GCMM) and regular meetings of the International Nuclear Regulators’ Association (INRA).

In the capacity of the chairman of the Operating Committee of the Radioactive Waste Safety Convention, Chairman Chang-sun Kang will discuss subjects on establishing a cooperative relationship between the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Radioactive Waste Safety Convention. And, at the INRA regular meeting, he will introduce Korea’s efforts to intensify nuclear safety, and this will be followed by in-depth discussions on regulatory policies of member countries.

His visit to the IAEA is expected to serve as a momentum of enhancing the status of Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission in the international community, marking the first anniversary of its launch, and of building substantial cooperative relations with other countries through agreements for cooperation.